Thornton acknowledges that reading is the key to solving a lot of the problems academically.
The district plans to spend more than $6 million to buy new reading curriculum materials for just about every class in the system from 4-year-old kindergarten through eighth grade, to start using this fall. The district has worked for two years on a comprehensive literacy plan, but Thornton was not in a rush to push the plan through until it was properly vetted. Thornton already has revised sections of the district's comprehensive literacy plan aimed at English language learners and early childhood education students. And, yes, folks, this will require closing under-utilized schools. On this score, Thornton will be judged on whether he uses resources in a way that serves students best. Most large public school districts are facing budget crises, which could worsen if the economy dips once again into recession. A student who transfers to two or more schools in a year could be exposed to the same number of different reading curricula in that period. When you consider the mobility issues in the district, this has created a huge problem. He calls what the district has now the Burger King approach - schools having it their own way.įor years, each school had its own reading program.
Thornton said MPS needs more consistency in its learning instruments. So far we like what we hear from the new superintendent. If board members insist on stirring the pot, Thornton has little chance of success. And the School Board can best ensure his success if it gives him the room to be that. We will be looking for clear signs from Thornton that he is the head chef. There have simply been too many cooks in the MPS kitchen. To accomplish all this, Thornton promises to more centralize MPS. Persuading the taxpaying public will require economizing - including persuading the teachers union to relent on items that carry too high a price tag - and improving academics. But, frankly, the public needs to have more assurances that the money it is spending on MPS is being put to good use. In a Q&A in Crossroads today, Thornton makes the case that accommodating the educational needs of the range of MPS students requires a different degree of funding. Thornton will have to turn around the district's academic woes with less federal and state funding, fewer teachers and a rocky financial road ahead.Ĭlearly, the state's funding formula needs to be revamped for MPS to do the job it needs to do in educating its 85,000 students. We will gauge Thornton's success by how much he boosts student achievement, starting with improving the abysmal reading and math scores for fourth- and eighth-graders and increasing graduation rates. He promises to look at doing things - even the basic, taken-for-granted things - differently. He is an outsider who promises to challenge the status quo. Milwaukee should hold him to that first-year timetable, looking not just for better outcomes but for signs that he is thinking long range as well.Īt the outset, however, Thornton has a couple of things going for him. But more than that, Milwaukee needs results. Thornton said he stepped up because he has the formula to turn things around and that people will start to see results within the first year. Please be sure to follow along by watching the short clips provided below.Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Thornton has the huge task of turning around the state's largest district amid finances that are said to be unsustainable in their current form.
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